


Lightning In A Bottle

by BookLover86



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bribery, Gen, I don't even know anymore, I've been writing this since May, Implied Relationships, Original Character(s), Torture, this is what happens when I'm in a bad mood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-09 23:39:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8918059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookLover86/pseuds/BookLover86
Summary: "For thirty-one months or about two years and seven months, Barry Allen was in a coma. Now, little over three months later, he’s here. I’ll bet, no matter how much I told you about this kid, there’s one thing that you don’t know: Barry Allen has a secret. A pretty big one at that. If I don’t get what I want, then I’ll reveal his secret, just after I put a bullet through his head. There will be an electronic list arriving at the CCPD at 7:00 p.m. sharp. In order for this kid to be returned alive, I must be in possession of everything on that list by 12:00 a.m. That’s five hours. If this is not fulfilled, he will die and I will start all over again.”     The crazy-eyed kidnapper who called himself "Blood" finally turned the camera around to face himself again. Cisco felt like puking. “Did I mention that every hour I don’t get what I want, I will reveal a little part of his secret in video updates? The clock, Central City, is ticking.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS NOR THE SETTINGS. The character of "Blood" in this story is in NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM related to Sebastian Blood from Arrow. I simply chose the name Blood as a placeholder before I could figure out his real name, but it grew on me. Also, there is some dialogue in this story that is taken straight from the show. I am NOT claiming ownership of these lines. Thank you.

   Some people would call lightning beautiful. Some would call it destructive. Iris called it torture. The spindly cracks that run across the velvet background in the blink of an eye, excruciatingly hot electricity colored stark white and chilling purple. Well, that was most lightning. The lightning Iris hated more than anything in the entire world was lightning that crackled across the cloudy skies in hues of fiery crimson and vivid gold. Most would say that kind of lightning doesn’t exist, but it Iris knows that it does. A normal bolt of lightning wouldn’t have put her best friend in the hospital, asleep in a coma. For an entire year.

     After five months, her dad had finally gone back to work at the CCPD, but Iris hadn’t seen such bags under Joe’s eyes before. Every day since Barry got struck, Iris forced herself to get up in the morning, made herself go to work every single day. Once she got off her shift, she would run to S.T.A.R Labs to check on Barry.

     There he lay; on a bed, hooked up to countless machines that continually clicked, clacked, and beeped. His eyes were closed, the joyful twinkle gone. His skin was pale, basically translucent, and his honey-brown hair was longer than he ever liked, ending halfway down his forehead. Iris barely recognized him anymore. A tall, pretty woman was checking something on the IV bag, the faint scratching of pencil on paper the only other sound.

      “Hey Caitlin,” Iris mumbled, dropping heavily onto the chair resting at his side. Dr. Snow nodded to acknowledge Iris’ presence, but said nothing. Barry must not be doing well today. Whenever the CSI wasn’t holding up very well, Caitlin suddenly became mute. She worked in suffocating silence, doing anything to try and stabilize Barry. Even happy-go-lucky Cisco would be subdued on those days. Dr. Wells wouldn’t even show his face.

     Iris gripped Barry’s limp, lifeless hand, her own warm skin doing nothing to dent the chill covering his own. She sat there for a couple of hours, holding his hand and watching his face. She talked to him after Caitlin exited, talked until her throat was sore. Her father was supposed to meet here there a half hour ago, but Iris wasn’t bothered. It was just her and Barry, and he was finally going to listen like Iris used to listen to him ramble on about all that science. For the rest of the evening, Iris talked, tears flowing down her cheeks and her voice cracking by the end.

     “Detective Pretty Boy asked me on a date today,” Iris mumbled, throat burning, but she ignored the pain. “I actually said yes.” Barry, as expected, didn’t respond. “Why did I do that, Bar? I don’t know why. You see, this is why I need you. You stop me from making stupid decisions like this.” A particularly loud noise emitted from the machine connected to his heart in response. But this noise was different that all the others. It hadn’t stopped. It was still ringing in Iris’ ears, filling her already ruptured heart with fear.

      _Barry was flatlining._

     “Caitlin!” Iris screamed, terrified. “Barry is flatlining!” The young doctor came sprinting into the room, long hair flying behind her blood-drained face. She dashed to the computer, clicked a button, and rushed back to Barry. A static sound could be heard before an intelligent voice responded.

     “Dr. Wells, come to the cortex now! Barry’s flatlining,” Caitlin yelled as she grabbed a high-tech defibrillator. Iris leaned against a wall, chest pounding. They promised that he wouldn’t flatline anymore, that his heart wouldn’t stop again. Tears fell down the young reporter’s cheeks as she watched Caitlin and a newly-arrived Cisco attempt to revive barry.

     After five minutes, they were finally able to. Cisco let out a sigh of relief before slumping in the chair Iris had vacated. Caitlin didn’t look so grim now as she approached Iris and drew her into a hug. Dr. Wells appeared a mere thirty seconds after they stabilized Barry. The same explosion that had put Barry in the coma had also paralyzed Wells from the waist down, forcing him to move around in a high-tech wheelchair. He rolled over to the comatose man wordlessly.

     “Is he stable?” the scientist asked, his voice calm and his eyes cold. Iris beat Caitlin to the answer. “Yes, he is. No thanks to you.” The three people turned to the visitor, two in shock and one emotionless. Iris couldn’t find it in herself to care; all the fear and sorrow built up inside her was begging to burst out, transformed into unimaginable fury.

     “Iris,” Caitlin hissed, but Iris ignored her. “Well? What’s your excuse?”

     “For what, Miss West?” Wells replied.

     “For lying. To me, to my dad, and to Barry.” Silence was poured into the room quite quickly. However, Dr. Wells wasn’t deterred. “I’m not aware that I lied to anyone, much less you and your father.”

     “Then why did you tell us that you could save Barry?”

     “Because I can.”

     Iris felt a hot anger fill her throat. “You said you could stop him from dying. But what did he do today? He died. And where were you when Caitlin and Cisco were trying their hardest to save him? Nowhere. So why don’t you just stop lying through your teeth and tell me if you can actually save my best friend.”

     Caitlin gaped at Iris while Cisco fought a smirk. However, Wells was still just as unresponsive. With a flick of his wheelchair controller, he was sitting in front of the furious young woman. He took off his glasses and looked her in her tear-filled eyes.

     “Iris West, I promised to save Barry Allen, and that is exactly what I am going to do. I would rather die than see Barry lie dead on that bed.” Iris nodded sharply before snatching her purse, planting a kiss on Barry’s forehead, and whisking out of S.T.A.R. Labs, still distrustful of the elusive Dr. Harrison Wells.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Joe sighed and ran a hand over his weary face. He’d been here for ten minutes and already felt worse than when he wasn’t here. It had been almost two whole years since Barry got struck by lightning. He’d visited his son at least once every week, even if Iris only visited once a every two weeks. At first, Joe was confused as to why she stepped back, but he soon realized that Iris might’ve been onto something. Sitting at the comatose twenty-seven-year-old’s bedside for longer than one hour did things to your mind. It made thoughts - such as _Is he gonna wake up?_ and _What if he doesn’t?_ \- raise in your head, and they stayed there, taunting you, as you struggled to keep the feelings at bay.

     As well as the manifestation of these thoughts, there was the staff at S.T.A.R. Labs. Caitlin almost never smiled, Cisco talked too much (except for when Barry wasn’t doing well; then he barely spoke a single word),  and Dr. Wells was rarely seen. It was hard for Joe to see his son like this: sick and dying slowly. They told him that Barry might be getting better, but Joe doubted that. He had half a mind to tell the scientists that he was done, tell them to let Barry die peacefully. He also knew that Wells would refuse his request in a heartbeat. Either Barry died by himself, or he was to be poked and prodded at even though he would not wake.

     Joe sighed and rested his hand on Barry’s freezing shoulder.

     “Listen kid; it’s okay. It’s okay if you want to go. Me and Iris will understand. We just can’t stand seeing you like this, Bar, so if you wanna go, then go. Sure; we’ll cry, but you can’t worry about us anymore, or make us think we can hold onto hope that you’ll wake up. You can either join us and your father, or you can join your mom. Just, please, stop keeping us in this constant state of fear and hurt. Either you wake up, or just die. Please…Barry…” Joe couldn’t continue through his tears. He just sat there and cried, holding Barry’s limp hand. This has been going on for too long if you asked him.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Barry felt like he had fallen asleep at his lab again.

     He had been pretty stressed, considering that he just got back from Starling City, where he was a temporary part of the vigilante’s team (cue the fangirl-like squeals), who is actually Oliver Queen (cue mind blown), then he had a full day at the precinct, and he missed the activation of the particle accelerator because some douche had snatched Iris’ laptop at the ceremony and Barry _had_ to go after the perp. “Luckily” Detective Thawne had been there to stop him.

     Yippee-skippy.

     Once he had gotten back to hi slab and off the phone with Felicity, he had noticed a leak and tried to close his skylight, but some jerk lightning decided to make a dramatic entrance. And…that was all he remembered. Nothing else registered to him.

     So it was a bit of a surprise that when he had opened his eyes again, he had no idea where he was. A pretty woman was bent over his face, scrutinizing eyes examining his every feature. Once his eyes struggled open, her own eyes widened and she gasped.

     “Caitlin? What’s wrong?” a voice asked.

      “His eyes are open,” the woman - Caitlin - responded, moving away. Barry groaned and shielded his eyes from the bright light that appeared seconds after Caitlin to his bedside.

     “What? Are you serious?” the other person asked, now identifiable as a guy.

     “Yes. Of course I'm serious,” Caitlin snapped. “Call Dr. Wells.” Barry could only see the bright light and could only hear a pretty loud ringing noise. Once the light disappeared and Barry could finally see without spots overtaking his vision, he attempted to sit up, and was immediately assisted. Turning his head, he saw a Hispanic kid, maybe a year or two younger than Barry himself, with shoulder-length hair.

     “Where am I?” Barry rasped, frightened by how dry and sandpapery his tongue felt.

     “You’re at S.T.A.R. Labs. I’m Cisco Ramon, and that’s Caitlin,” the guy - Cisco - gestured to the woman who was examining a computer, “Dr. Snow,” Cisco corrected, smile still on his face.

     “S.T.A.R. Labs? What am I doing here?” Barry asked, still groggy.

     “You got struck struck by lightning and were in a coma,” Caitlin supplied.

     “I was in a coma?" Barry felt a chill climb his spine. "For how long?”

     “Thirty-one months,” a new voice chime din. The three people to look at the newcomer: a middle-aged man in a high-tech wheelchair. His face looked king, but closed off. “Welcome back to the land of the living, Mr. Allen. We have a lot to discuss.”

     “Who are you?” Barry questioned, feeling extremely confused.

     “Caitlin, Cisco, I think it would be best if Barry and I were to talk alone,” the man told them, ignoring Barry’s own question. The two nodded and walked out, still murmuring amongst themselves.

     “Okay, can you tell me what is going on?” Barry asked, slightly annoyed at being left out.

     “Please, don’t get up. You need to rest,” the man told him. Barry huffed indignantly, but settled against his pillows again. He did feel pretty weak, and had since he'd woken up.

     “Who are you?” Barry repeated.

     “My name is Dr. Harrison Wells. You, Barry Allen, were struck by a bolt of lightning the same night the particle accelerator exploded. We are currently at S.T.A.R. Labs, which has not been operational since FEMA classified us as a class four hazardous location. Seventeen people died that night. Many more were injured, including myself.” Barry took it all in, mind running at a thousand miles per hour.

     “What happened with the accelerator?” he decided to ask. Dr. Wells got a faraway look in his eyes. “The particle accelerator went online without any complications. After forty-five minutes, however, we detected an anomaly. The electron volts became unmeasurable, the ring under us popped. Energy from that detonation was thrown into the sky, which in turn seeded a storm cloud that created a lightning bolt that struck you.”

     “Why am I here instead of at a hospital?”

     “At the time, I was recovering myself when I heard about you. The hospital was undergoing unexplainable power outages every time _you_ were going into cardiac arrest, which was actually a misdiagnosis, because you see, you weren’t flatlining, Barry. Your heartbeat was moving too fast for the EKG to register it. That’s why Detective West agreed for me to move you here. You have been in a coma for thirty-one months, or two years and seven months. Now, you’re awake and once we are done here, we will be performing some tests. Any other questions, Mr. Allen?”

     Silence. Barry starred at the wall, unseeing as his mind attempted to process all the information that was just presented to him. He’d missed over two and a half _years_ of his life because of being struck by lightning. Sure, it wasn’t as bad as being stuck on a hellish island for five years while all your loved ones believed you to be dead (he really needed to get in touch with Oliver and Felicity and Dig once he got out of here; he did not want to think what his friend's (could he even call them his friends yet) reactions were when they found out he was in a coma), but it was still pretty suckish.

     “Where’s Joe and Iris?” was all that came out of his mouth. Dr. Wells nodded, knowingly. “Ah. Detective West and his daughter. They came to visit often, but lately, they’ve shown up about once every two weeks to a month. You can’t blame them, of course. I figure it must’ve been hard to see you in the comatose state you were in.”

     “When can I see them?”

     “We will call them as soon as we finish our tests and assure that you are healthy enough for visitors.”

     Barry swallowed his complaint and blinked in agreement. “Okay.”

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Caitlin examined Barry’s vitals while Cisco performed a physical examination on their newly awakened patient. He seemed fine and healthy, albeit very weak and slightly malnourished and dehydrated. There were just some things that you couldn’t get from bags and tubes. They were lucky that he woke up at all, but a small part of Caitlin hated him for it. It was wrong, and she knew it.

     However, after Ronnie died, she felt sort of numb. It wasn’t Barry’s fault. There was a fluke in the accelerator that none of them could foresee.

     A fluke that cost Caitlin’s finacé his life, Dr. Wells the use of his legs, over two and a half years of Barry’s life, and many others many injuries, some fatal, and some not.

     A fluke that destroyed Caitlin’s so carefully planned life.

     Loud footsteps were heard in the hall as Iris West burst into the lab, cheeks flushed and chest heaving. When she saw Barry, she took off running once again, this time into Barry’s arms. Caitlin heard a loud huff as a surprised Barry got two armfuls of his best friend.

     The only thing Iris seemed to be saying was, “You’re awake. You’re awake,” over and over again. Barry could do little but hug her back, just not as fiercely.

     “Good to see you up kid,” Joe told him, giant smile clear on his face. Once Iris was done hugging him, Joe engulfed his son in what looked like a bone-breaking embrace. Caitlin managed a small smile. It might’ve been too late for her and Ronnie, but at least it wasn’t too late for Barry.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Barry took a deep breath and started in a dead sprint. Time seemed to slow down as the wind rushed by him faster than any man should ever be able to feel. After two weeks of tests, Dr. Wells had finally relented to let him go home, and what’s the first thing that Barry does?

     Why, he, of course, discovers that he has super speed! Back to the lab with him. After an additional five weeks in the lab with even more tests and drills, plus training and one very cool looking suit, Barry became the Flash.

     Now, one month later, he was a household name in Central City and it felt good. He was able to do something about the metahumans while no one else could. However, his real life wasn’t going as great. When he was the Flash, he forgot about everything except for the problem they were dealing with at that moment. That meant that when he was just Barry Allen, he dealt with completely different problems than when he was running faster than the speed of thought.

     Such as his first love getting engaged to Eddie Thawne after dating him for a year and a half. They had begun dating while Barry was in a coma, which sucked for him. Because of that explosion, he’d lost his one chance to ask Iris out. That was probably the thing that hurt him the most. Not missing over two years of his life, but the fact that his first love slipped through his fingers just because he got hit by lightning.

      Talk about some rotten luck.

     Anyway, Barry was trying to get the engagement announcement out of his head by running to Starling City. He had called Felicity before and told her, and she immediately told him to come up and they would binge watch crappy movies until their eyes bled. Barry was trying really hard not to run so fast that the ground underneath his feet caught fire. The last time that happened, Cisco was pretty mad at him for getting soot on his precious suit while Caitlin was livid that he had left scorch marks across over twenty acres of farmland.

     With his mind drifting back to Iris and Eddie, Barry knew he should’ve been expecting something along those lines, but he was just caught completely off guard. He winced and tried to will away the pictures of Iris, looking absolutely breathtaking in a gown of white, on the arm of a crying Joe while Eddie waited for her at the end of the aisle.

     Barry was so focused on getting rid of these images that he didn’t see the net right in front of him. He ran into it with a smack and fell to the ground, dazed. The last thing he felt was the sharp prick of a needle into the flesh of his neck, then darkness drowned out the rest of his sense, leaving him in utter nothingness.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Cisco sighed happily and took a satisfyingly scalding sip from his drink. You couldn’t beat a cappuccino at Jitter’s.

     He unlocked his laptop at S.T.A.R Labs to being his daily browsing when a video popped up on his screen. Posted ten minutes ago and already over a million views. _That_ was impressive. Cisco clicked on it and turned up the volume.

     It was titled, “Surprise Central City!” and the icon was of Barry all bruised and beat up. Cisco’s heart started pounding as he clicked play.

     A crazy-eyed man wearing a sickly calm smile waved to the camera he held in his hand. “Hello citizens of Central City. I’ve never been able to make your acquaintance, but now is as good a time as any. The people closest to me that haven’t gotten in my way used to call me Blood. Probably because I’ve spilled so much, but that’s not important right now. If you live in Central City, chance are that you’ve been able to meet this guy.”

     Blood turned the camera to face an angry-looking Barry. He was tied to a metal chair, wearing black sweatpants and a grey t-shirt, both ripped and splattered with blood. He was gagged, and his face was _covered_ in cuts, most of them still trickling blood. His hair was sticking up and out in every possible direction, matted with dirt and blood. Cisco had no idea how Barry looked like he did. He had taken the Flash suit and said he was going to Starling just a little over an hour ago. Barry’s torso was relatively cut free except for a nasty looking gash running across his left shoulder and sternum.

     “This charming boy’s name is Bartholomew Henry Allen. He is twenty-eight-years-old and has lived in Central City ever since he was born. When he was eleven years old, his mother, Nora Allen, was murdered on the night of March 18th, 200. His father, Henry Allen, was convicted of his wife’s murder. But little eleven-year-old Barry argued otherwise. He believed that he saw a man dressed in yellow murder his mother in the midst of red and yellow lightning that was circulating his living room, where his mother was. However, no one believed him. They passed it off as shock, but Barry told the truth. I hear you guys have your very own superhero in Central City. The Flash? A man who has superhuman speed and runs in a wake of yellow lightning. Maybe you police should check into that.

     "Speaking of officers, Barry now had no parents to raise him. He was taken in by the Wests, family of his best friend. Detective Joe West served as Barry’s foster father while his daughter, Iris West, continued to be Barry’s best friend. Years passed and Barry grew up, majoring in two fields of science. He studied criminology and took a job at the Central City Police Department as a scientist in the Criminal and Forensic Science Division. For many years, he’s held this job, attracted to it because of his mother’s murder. This kid’s life changed forever when Dr. Harrison wells activated the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator, though. When the accelerator exploded, he was struck by a bolt of lightning, caused by the detonation.

     "For thirty-one months or about two years and seven months, Barry Allen was in a coma. Now, little over three months later, he’s here. I’ll bet, no matter how much I told you about this kid, there’s one thing that you don’t know: Barry Allen has a secret. A pretty big one at that. If I don’t get what I want, then I’ll reveal his secret, just after I put a bullet through his head. There will be an electronic list arriving at the CCPD at 7:00 p.m. sharp. In order for this kid to be returned alive, I must be in possession of everything on that list by 12:00 a.m. That’s five hours. If this is not fulfilled, he will die and I will start all over again.”

     Blood finally turned the camera around to face himself again. Cisco felt like puking. “Did I mention that every hour I don’t get what I want, I will reveal a little part of his secret in video updates? The clock, Central City, is ticking.”

     With that parting statement, the video ended. Cisco didn’t know what to do. For ten seconds, he just sat there, unseeing as he tried to absorb the information he just learned about. Once he was done processing it, he almost fell over trying to stand up. He ran down a curved hallway to where Dr. Wells and Caitlin were examining the latest of Barry’s vitals.

     “…little over an hour ago, they stopped coming in,” Caitlin was saying before Cisco interrupted her.

     “I know why. You guys have to see this. Barry’s in serious trouble.” _That_ got their attention. Cisco led them back to the cortex and showed them the video. By the end of it, Caitlin was close to tears, and Dr. wells was more furious than Cisco’s ever seen him.

     “When was this posted?” Wells asked.

     “About twenty-three minutes ago,” Cisco answered, pulling up the video details.

     “You didn’t notice that Barry was missing?”

     “He’d just left for Starling after he heard that Iris and Eddie got engaged. Something about needing to see Felicity and Oliver again.”

     “Felicity!” Caitlin exclaimed, breaking up the heated exchange between Cisco and Dr. Wells. They turned their attention to her.

     “What?” Cisco asked.

     “We need to call Felicity and get her to come here. She’s a computer genius, one of the best hackers ever, and she knows about Barry’s secret. We need to get her to trace Blood so we can find Barry,” Caitlin explained. Cisco nodded in agreement before beginning to search for the IT’s phone numbers.

     “I hope she can trace the video to Blood,” Dr. Wells mumbled, voice cold and emotionless. “If she can’t, then I doubt we’ll find Mr. Allen in time.”

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Felicity was humming to herself when she got the phone call. Raising the phone to her ear peacefully, she said, “Where are you, Bar? I thought you said you’d be here by now. I got Oliver to agree to watch the movies with us, but Dig weaseled his way out of it.”

     “Felicity? It’s Caitlin Snow,” a flustered Caitlin answered. “We need your help.”

     “What’s wrong?” Felicity asked, sitting straight up in her chair.

     “It’s Barry. He was running to Starling and someone kidnapped him. Look up a video called ‘Surprise Central City’. We need you to try and trace it to find Barry before Blood kills him.”

     “I’m on it,” Felicity promised before hanging up.

     Her fingers danced across the keyboard, and the video popped up in seconds. Seeing the thumbnail icon sent a sick feeling into her stomach. The video was even worse. Whoever this Blood guy was, he was going down. Felicity immediately began trying to trace the video, but she came up with nothing. This guy was good. No trace that he even existed, dead or alive. Facial recognition did absolutely nothing and Blood covered his tracks. Not even the slightest imprint to go off of. Felicity heard someone tramp down the stairs, but she just ignored them. She didn't have any time to make small talk.

     “I thought you were making me watch these crappy movies with you and Bar,” Oliver reminded. “Whatcha working on?”

     It finally occurred to Felicity that Oliver hadn’t seen the video yet. He had been at the office almost all day. A sad feeling slowed down her limbs.

     How would Oliver react to the video? If he went all crazy trying to find Barry, he could end up getting himself killed. Common sense won out, and she turned to a monitor she wasn’t using. Silently, she began to pull up the video.

     “Felicity? What’s wrong? Where’s Barry?” Oliver sounded worried.

     “Caitlin called me,” Felicity started with a melancholy tone. “She wanted me to look at his video and trace it. It’s about Barry.”

     She didn’t say anything else and let the video do the talking. Felicity knew when the video ended, because Oliver slammed a clenched fist on the metal table resting in the middle of the room, spouting every kind of profanity known to man.

     “Do you have any idea who this guy is?” Oliver asked, voice tight and filled with rage.

     “Nothing comes up with facial recognition, and he’s covered his tracks with pounds of mud. What should be left behind isn’t. This guy’s a professional,” Felicity told him, still searching.

     “Why doesn’t Barry just use his speed to escape?”

     “If you look in the background, there’s a bunch of tripods and cameras set up, with cords running everywhere. My guess is that they’re recording and are programmed to post with the push of a button. He tries to escape, Barry’s identity goes public.”

     Oliver growled, frustrated, before moving towards his suit. “I’m going to go search. If he’s in Central, I need to get there.”

     Felicity turned to face him. “What if you get hurt?” The look in Oliver’s eyes was frightening; he looked ready to kill. “I won’t. And if I find the guy, then he’ll wish he’d never messed with Barry Allen, or with me.”

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Eddie had heard about the video within a half hour of it being online. Iris had run into the CCPD, tears streaming down her face, and sobbed that Barry was in trouble. Within ten minutes, all of the precinct was aware of the video and were preparing for the email. Eddie glanced at his fiancée, who was chewing her fingernails, waiting nervously for the email. He stole another look at the clock.

     6:57. Three minutes.

     Eddie caught his partner pacing up and down the length of the room. He had overhead Joe talking to someone named Quentin Lance. Apparently, this Lance guy was sending someone called Felicity over to Central with a police escort. She must be important.

     6:58. Two minutes.

     Captain Singh was organizing the distraught precinct. Barry was popular and very well liked by everyone. He’d grown up here, along with Iris. Those two were the only ones who could come and go throughout the precinct as they pleased while they grew up, Eddie was told.

     6:59. One minute.

     Eddie began to tap his foot. If they didn’t get what this guy wanted, then Barry was as good as dead. His heart raced just thinking about it. Everything would be undone if Barry died.

     7:00. It was time.

      _Ding!_

_Ding!_

_Ding!_

     Every computer at the CCPD went off at the same exact time. Silence engulfed the room as everyone rushed to check their inbox. Every single computer received the same message:

      _I want to be a metahuman._

     Eddie felt a cold feeling coat his nerves. If Blood wanted to be a metahuman, the only way that could happen was with the explosion of a particle accelerator. Something that they can’t physically do in five hours.

     Barry was going to die.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Joe was going to wring Blood’s neck. The only way to get Barry back was to make this criminal a metahuman. In five hours. There wasn’t enough time, and they certainly didn’t have the resources. They needed to find Barry before the five hours were up, or he was going to die.

     “Detective West.” Joe turned around to see a pretty young woman with glasses and a blonde ponytail rushing towards him, her face racked with worry.

     “You must be Felicity Smoak,” Joe greeted with a grim nod.

     “Yeah. I’m assuming you have the email for me to trace,” she replied. Joe motioned for her to follow him. “You’ve seen the video, then.”

     Felicity nodded. “So what does he want.”

     “He wants to become a metahuman, which is, of course, impossible under these circumstances, so we need to find Barry as soon as possible.

     Felicity gave him a determined nod and sat down at his computer. “I’ll try, but I’ve already tried to trace the video and came up with nothing. On top of that, there are no records or facial matches for this Blood guy, dead or alive. It’s like he doesn’t exists. This guy’s good, but I’m better.” With that, Felicity turned around and got to work on tracing the email. Captain Singh called for people to volunteer to search for Barry physically. Joe grabbed his jacket and filed out right behind Eddie.

     They _had_ to find him.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     John glanced at the clock again.

     7:55. Five minutes until Blood’s first update.

     He was searching Starling City for anything on Barry’s location while Oliver was searching in the country, and the CCPD was looking in Central. Oliver had sent him the link to the first video with the words, ‘Please start looking’ attached. Short and to the point, like Oliver usually was.

     After watching it, John had to resist throwing the phone out the window. Forty-five minutes later, and the video of Blood and Barry was all over the news, and everyone was on the edge of their seats. Felicity couldn’t trace the video, and no less skilled hackers could either. John turned a corner as his phone went off. He pulled off to the side of the road and pulled up Blood’s newest video.

     Like first one, it started of with Blood facing the shaky camera, calm grin fixed on his cruel face.

     “Wow. This is surprising. With a track record like the CCPD has, I would’ve expected to have what I wanted by now. Oh well. Four hours left. An interesting fact about this young man in front of me, is that cold doesn’t react well with Barry Allen.”

     The camera stilled and swerved to face Barry, now ungagged and giving the camera a death glare. He didn’t look any worse than he did in the last video, which was a good sign. Blood reappeared, holding a canister with a misty looking fog spilling over the top.

     “Ah, don’t you want to say anything, Bar-Bar?” Blood asked mockingly. Barry turned his death glare on his captor and sent a giant glob of spit into his face. Blood shook his head, but didn’t back down, nor did he stop smiling.

     “Feisty thing, aren’t you?” Anyways, this,” Blood held up the container,” is full of liquid nitrogen. Now, I can hear all of you moaning. ’ _Blooood_ , liquid nitrogen is dangerous to _everyone_.’ And that might be true, but this stuff would give a normal person frostbite in minutes. Now, with Barry?” Blood’s grin grew as he poured the nitrogen over Barry’s right leg, from his hip all the way to his foot. Barry tipped hi head back and howled with pain, his entire body racked with shivers and trembles as tears spilled off his cheeks.

     John felt like jumping off a cliff. He’d never be able to get Barry’s pain-filled scream out of his head. Blood turned the camera around, Barry’s yells acting as the sickest version of background music. “If my calculations are correct, then his leg will be completely frostbitten in exactly, oh…zero seconds?”

     With that, the video went black. John threw his phone into the passenger seat of his car and steered back onto the road. If Oliver didn’t put an arrow in this guy when he found him, then John gladly would.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     David gave a grim nod to the camera. They got ahold of a news station, because of countless messages about them not doing anything to get Blood what he wanted and to save Barry.

     “I am Captain David Singh of the Central City Police Department. We have received Blood’s email and are trying to find him and Barry Allen. However, we cannot fulfill his request. He wants to become a metahuman. Metahumans came about because of the particle accelerator explosion. As you know, that particle accelerator took years to make. We cannot possibly recreate another explosion in five hours.

     "Also, all of the metas we know of had to be in special circumstances in order for the explosion to have any affect on them, and give them powers. Therefore, we are focusing all our energy on trying to locate Blood and/or Allen. We are trying our hardest to save this kid. We’ve got specialists from Starling City helping us aid in our search, plus confirmation that the Arrow has begun looking for Barry as well. In the meantime, if you have any information on Blood or Barry, please contact your police station immediately. Thank you.”

     With that, the cameras cut and David went back to working on how they were going to save Allen.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Felicity pushed her glasses up before resuming her furious typing. Blood had covered his tracks just as well with the email as he had with the videos. Speaking of which, the third one was supposed to be up in about three minutes.

     “Have you found anything on your end?” Felicity asked. There was a moment of silence before Oliver replied, via headset. “Nothing. You?”

     “I think I found something,” Felicity announced, fingers flying faster as she tried to follow the small lead. Anger and frustration rang through her body as she growled and considered heaving the computer across the room. “Never mind.”

     After she had composed herself, she realized that Blood had posted the next video. With a heavy heart, she clicked play. Blood tilted his head, creepy smile still fixed on his face.

     “Hello world,” he exclaimed grandly, “and that’s all the small talk time I’ve scheduled for right now. Anyway, the time is still ticking, Central City. You still haven’t given me what I wanted, and I am not a patient man.” Blood turned the camera to Barry, who was sweating, but his head was limp against his chest and his eyelids were closed. He didn’t look conscious, but when Blood picked up another canister and poured the liquid nitrogen over his left leg, Barry shrieked with pain. His arms tensed, wrists straining against his bonds and his head whipped back and forth. The video lasted for a  few more seconds before the camera swiveled back to Blood.

     “Next fun fact: Barry Allen has always been a bit _quicker_ than most.” Then the video feed went black.

     Felicity ground her teeth and continued her work. Barry needed her to succeed, now more than ever. She had three hours left to find Barry.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Caitlin reviewed the map again. Barry had disappeared from right in the middle of a huge field with no clear sign as to which direction Blood took him. Cisco was trying to find any trace of the Flash suit, but to no avail. He had gone to the CCPD after, seeing if there was anything he could do there. Dr. Wells had disappeared to some corner of the lab and hasn’t been seen for a long time.

     Out of the blue, Caitlin heard her phone ping. It was an update; Blood posted another video. She glanced at her clock to see that is was 10:00, much later than she thought it to be. She pulled up the video nonetheless, and prepared for the inevitable horror.

     It began with Blood, just like all the others. He gave the camera a sick grin. “Thought you’d like another update,” he drawled before turning the camera to face Barry. He looked even worse, sagging bonelessly against the metal chair he was bound to. His chest lifted centimeters as he breathed shallowly. He had been knocked out, a large bruise beginning to form on his forehead.

     “You guys are pretty slow. It’s been three whole hours, and I still don’t have what I want. I wonder why that is. After all, it’s such a simple thing. Two hours left, and as for your hint, Barry Allen looks exceptionally good in the color red. He wears it daily.” The video went black, and Caitlin put her phone down.

     That hint was a flashing neon sign, pointing people start looking for people who wear red daily, don’t work well with cold temperatures, and were “quick”. Plus, Barry, being native to Central City, would be connected with the Flash first rather than anyone else. Caitlin sighed and resumed her search for anything out of the ordinary.

     They had to find Barry, and fast. Caitlin did _not_ want to go to the funeral for someone else she loved.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Cisco paced around the precinct anxiously. He couldn’t do anything to help find his friend anymore. Felicity was handling the tech stuff while Caitlin was monitoring S.T.A.R. Labs while Wells wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Joe and Eddie were out looking and Iris kept refreshing YouTube every minute, searching for Blood’s new video so she could relay the information to her father and fiancé out in the field. Oliver and Diggle were scouring everywhere from Starling to Central.

     So far, nothing had come up. It was close to the 11:00 mark, though, and Iris was refreshing almost every thirty seconds.

     Cisco took a deep breath and forced himself to sit down. Still, he tapped his foot and checked the clock impulsively. The seconds ticked by, agonisingly slow, until Cisco’s watch began to beep.

     “I’ve got the video,” Iris announced. Singh, Cisco, and Iris gathered around the computer, watching as Blood continued with his series of insanity. Felicity was still typing away, but her ears were turned towards the speakers, listening intently.

     The video flickered to color, showcasing Barry. He looked awful. His eyes were now open, but the warm brown of his irises were bloodshot and drowning in tears. His shoulders were hunched, and his head was slumped to the side, lifeless. His entire body was limp, like he had just given up on fighting. Three small knives were lodged in each of his arms - one in the meat of the shoulder, one in the inner part of the elbow, and one in the wrist. Dried blood was caked onto his arms and hands, as well as most of his clothing. Barry still had no gag, but multiple lengths of chain ran across his frostbitten legs and shackled his ankles to the chair he was sitting on. Blood wasn’t anywhere in the picture.

     “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to go this far,” Blood’s cheery voice ran in the air from behind the camera, “but you’ve left me no choice.” Blood crept into frame, small revolver in his hand.

     With a small squeeze of his index finger, Blood sent a bullet into the middle of Barry’s left shoulder. Barry jerked back, head whipping from side to side. He cried out in agony, tears streaming down his face. Blood seeped out of the fresh wound, darkening his shirt.

     Cisco tried to turn away, but he couldn’t. He needed to know what else Blood was going to do to his friend.

     Once Barry’s cries had quieted to painful moans and his body stopped twitching, Blood moved to point the gun at Barry’s right shoulder. Barry looked up at him, fear painted in his eyes among the pain.

     “No,” Barry whimpered, voice raspy. “No, no. Please stop!” His cries were heartbreaking and filled with terror. Barry tried to move away as Blood leaned close, the gun now resting against his skin. Blood smiled before a loud bang sounded. Barry began to thrash around, wrists shredded and bloody against his metal restraints, as he sobbed and shrieked with pain. Blood disappeared before showing back up with a piece of blood-covered metal in his fingers.

      _The bullet had gone clean through his shoulder._

     That was too much for Cisco. He turned away, and bolted out of the precinct in search of fresh air. When he exited the building, he sat on a bench directly to the right of the door. He held his head in his hands. His cheeks were wet. He had been crying and didn’t even realize. Cisco sat there, trying to calm down. He was lucky that he hadn’t thrown up after watching his best friend get shot twice. He had no idea if Barry could even last another hour. After a couple minutes of deep breathing, Cisco got up and stumbled back into the precinct.

     Felicity was typing even faster, cheeks glistening in the harsh lighting, but Cisco said nothing. Iris was wrapped up in a blanket, eyes blank. Singh was nowhere to be seen.

     “‘Barry Allen is one of the fastest men alive’,” Iris recited, voice dull.  

     “What?” Cisco asked.

     “That was the last hint to Barry’s secret,” she clarified. “Blood revealed it right before saying, ‘The next bullet goes through his head’. Now, I know who Barry really is.”

     “Really? I honestly don’t think Barry is even hid-”

     “Stop it, Cisco!” Iris exploded, standing up suddenly. “I know Barry is the Flash, and I _also_ know that everyone seems to know except for me!” Silence filled the large room, except for the blonde hacker who didn’t even pause once in her searching.

     “I already told her everything,” Felicity admitted quietly.

     Cisco sighed and sat down in a chair heavily. “Okay then,” he muttered. No one else spoke for a long time.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Iris was going to hit Barry when the  Arrow brought him back. Well, now that she knew the Arrow was looking for him because they were good friends.. Apparently, Felicity worked for the hooded vigilante, and Barry knew her through him. Felicity had also hinted at Barry knowing the vigilante very well, maybe even more so than Felicity. Iris still had no idea exactly who the Arrow was, or who else worked with him beside Felicity and Barry.

     All she knew was that her best friend was the fastest man alive. Iris felt a chill crawl her spine and she dragged her blanket closer to her body. When she lifted her eyes from the ground, she saw Cisco looking at his phone with a nauseous gaze as he repeatedly tapped his foot. Felicity was still trying to track Barry, but her shoulders were slumped forward and tears were still fresh in her eyes. The Arrow had called about ten minutes ago to relay that neither him nor his partner had found anything on Barry.

     Iris’ eyes glanced impulsively at the clock. Seventeen minutes until 12:00.

     “How long has Bar been…ya know…” Iris trailed off.

     “The Flash?” Cisco offered, a small smile on his face.

     Iris nodded. “Yeah.”

     “Well, after he woke up from that coma, it was about two months before he exhibited any signs of being a meta. In fact, he was the very first metahuman we ever knew about.”

     “So, it was the lightning that made him this way?” she questioned.

     “Actually, the lightning had dark matter in it. When it struck Barry, he collided with some chemicals, and that must’ve been the perfect trio for super speed. Electricity, dark matter, and chemicals,” a new voice chimed in. Cisco and Iris turned to see a disheveled looking Caitlin standing in the doorway. “Did you find something?” Cisco asked, standing.

     Caitlin frowned and shook her head. “I couldn’t find _anything_. I just didn’t want to be alone if the worst comes to pass.” With that, she sat next to Cisco in silence.

     “Wait!” Felicity cried out. Iris snapped her head up. Felicity was pressing a button on her phone, then placed it on the desk. “Oliver? I found him. I’m sending you the coordinates now. You have four minutes.”

     Everyone got on their feet and crowded around Felicity. Iris didn’t even realize that she now knew the first name of the Arrow. All that mattered was saving Barry. A garbled voice came over the speaker of Felicity's phone, “On my way.”

     Iris sighed in relief.

     The seconds passed by agonizingly slow, before the clock ticked to 12:00. She was beginning to wonder if “Oliver” had failed, before the computer beeped. All four of the worried friends turned to look at the ominous YouTube screen.

      _Blood had posted a new video._

\- - -⚡\- - -

     John pulled off to the side of the road, hands shaky as he picked up his phone. Clicking the link to Blood’s new video, he felts chest tighten.

     The title read, “It’s Over”, which sent a horrible feeling into his stomach. Blood’s face filled the camera, all cheerfulness drained from his face.

     “Time’s up, Central City,” he growled, raising a gun in his hand. The camera swiveled to face Barry. He didn’t look any worse for wear, the only difference was that Blood had taken out the six knives in his arms, but nothing had been down for the two holes in his shoulders.

     “As has my patience. Want to know the big secret about Barry Allen? Well, you’ll have to stay tuned.” With that, he leveled the gun at Barry’s head. “Any last words, Mr. Allen?” Barry lifted his bloody head to look straight into the camera.

     “Iris, Joe…I love you guys,” Barry turned his head to the side and coughed, blood splattering out of his mouth. “Eddie, take…care of Iris…Cisco and…Caitlin…thanks for st-sticking with me…Dig, you’re awesome…Felicity, thanks…for trying…keep an eye on him for me. Oliver,” cough, “…don’t beat yourself up over this. Dad…if they ever allow you to watch this…I love you, and,” cough, cough, “I’m sorry that I…wasn’t able to prove…that you’re,” deep breath, hacking coughs,”…innocent.” Barry recited all this like he had thought of this scenario many times before.

     “Oh, and,” cough, “Blood,” he turned toward his torturer, “you can go screw yourself in hell.”

     Blood’s smile grew. “Monumental final words, Bartholomew Henry Allen.” He moved closer and pressed the cold muzzle of the gun against the side of Barry’s head.

     Before Blood could even think of pulling the trigger, a dark shape zipped through the air and embedded itself into his wrist. As the camera focused, John was able to make out the slim form of an arrow. John nearly started sobbing in relief.

      _Oliver had gotten there in time._

     Blood yelped and dropped the gun onto Barry’s right leg, causing the captive metahuman to hiss in pain.

     “Sorry,” a distorted voice apologized.

     “It’s okay, but you sure took,” cough, “your sweet time getting here,” Barry groaned, a hint of amusement in his broken eyes.

     “Got held up,” Oliver explained. He inched into frame, bow drawn and arrow nocked. It was pointed at Blood’s chest. “Make one more move and the next one goes through your heart.”

     Blood started laughing maniacally, yelling out strange words in an unintelligible strain. Oliver raised his bow above his head and brought it down on Blood’s head violently, effectively knocking him out. “

     The…camera,” Barry rasped. Oliver turned towards the recording device, just now realizing that it was there. He moved to shut it off, but not before he whispered, “It’s over.” The video went black, and John leaned back in his seat, tears of joy falling down his cheeks.

     Barry was safe.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Oliver felt a fiery rage build in his stomach when he looked at the unconscious Blood.

      “Oliver…” Barry mumbled, getting his attention. He turned towards his friend, immediately putting his bow down in order to undo the chains wrapped around him.

     “Are you okay?” Oliver asked softly, mask and voice moderator off. Barry let out a humorless laugh, pain flittering across his features. “Not really. Everything hurts like hell.” Oliver bit his lip, frown evident.

     The two superheroes were silent as Oliver released the last of the chains. He slung his bow over his back, and moved to help Barry stand up, but the speedster recoiled from his touch.

     “Barry…I’m trying to help,” Oliver told him softly, as one would tell a child.

     Barry met his eyes with a watery gaze. “I know, but…I can only think of _him_ …and how every time…he touched me…he hurt me.” Oliver’s chest tightened, and he briefly saw red, resisting the urge to shove an arrow into the heart of the knocked out torturer.

     “Blood is lucky I don’t kill anymore,” he growled, fingers digging into his gloved palms. “Otherwise, he’d be split in two bloody pieces on opposite ends of this room two seconds after I found him.” He turned back to Barry, who gave him a small, empty grin.

     “Thank you,” he murmured in a low voice. “If you hadn’t come when you did-”

     “Nope,” Oliver muttered. “We are not going to think about that, because I got here in time. That’s all that counts, Barry. The fact that you’re alive and you are going to be okay.”

     Tears started rolling down Barry’s cheeks, lips twisted into a bitter scowl.

     “Okay? You really think I’m gonna be okay after…all this?” he hissed.

     Oliver gave Barry a glare with no real heat behind it. “I spent five years being tortured on an island and turned out mildly okay. You can get past five _hours_."

     “ _You don’t get it Oliver_!” Barry screamed, glaring at the archer with liquid fire in his cold eyes. “He poured _liquid nitrogen_ on my _legs_! I’ll never be able to walk again, much less run! My “five hours” took away my _entire life_! It would’ve been better if Blood had put that bullet into my head!” He slumped back in the chair, slowly crossing his arms, even though the pure strength and endurance that one simple task took was obvious on his face.

     Oliver was floored. In his rush to save Barry, it hadn’t occurred to him what Blood might’ve done. After all, he was so occupied with trying to find the kid, that he didn’t even see any of the video updates.

     Rubbing his face with one hand, Oliver took a step closer to Barry. “Listen Bar: I know this is hard, and I know this probably seems hopeless, but you’ve come out of much worse and been okay. Hell, you could probably have your back break and be up and running in a few hours.” Barry gave him a blank stare, making Oliver sigh as he fixed his mask back into place. “You are so much stronger than this, and you _can_ be healed.”

     Silence filled the room until shrill sirens could be heard, steadily getting closer. “Come on, Bar. We need to get you to the ambulance so they can get to work on those legs of yours,” Oliver whispered.

     Barry’s eyes began to thaw as he gave Oliver a small nod. The speedster uncrossed his arms, and tried to help Oliver hoist him up, but it wasn’t needed. Oliver easily slung one of his arms over his shoulder and helped him stand. Barry’s face scrunched up in concentration for a few seconds before his expression fell.

     “I can’t move my feet,” he whispered. Oliver simply nodded and scooped Barry into a bridal-style hold, waiting patiently beside Blood’s body. Barry rolled into Oliver’s chest, slowly losing consciousness due to his loss of blood.

     Moments later, dozens of police officers burst into the warehouse, guns drawn and light shining. Oliver switched on his voice moderator and began to walk out of the place.

     “He’s over there,” he told the officers, jerking his head towards Blood’s body. The police saw that he was carrying Barry and said nothing else to the hooded vigilante. Oliver rushed out to the front where he saw many paramedics getting their equipment out. As soon as they saw Oliver, they bolted towards him and loaded Barry onto the gurney they had unfolded, fitting an oxygen mask over his face.

     “Get him to the hospital as soon as humanly possible,” he ordered a small girl wearing a nurse uniform. She gave him a steely nod. “That’s our job, sir.”

     Oliver nodded jerkily before finding his bike. He watched as the cops shoved Blood into the back of a squad car. He also followed the tire tracks of the ambulance, which had squealed out of its parking space seconds after Oliver turned away from it. Oliver allowed himself a small smile as he picked up his bike, fallen on its side in his haste to find Barry on time.

     Right now, Barry was alive, and that was the best knowledge Oliver had ever possessed.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     David smiled at the reactions of the four other inhabitant of the precinct. Iris started crying with a wide smile. Felicity slumped to the floor and laughed. Cisco and Caitlin began hugging and didn’t seem to want to let go.

     David himself was over the moon. The Arrow saving Barry was the best case scenario (he would ponder about the banter the two shared later), and Barry seemed to know him well (once again, later).

     It was thirty-seven minutes before the search parties burst into the precinct, everyone whooping and cheering. Eddie made a beeline for Iris, who threw herself at him in a vicious hug. Joe wrapped Felicity into a short, but grateful. Not one person was frowning, or sad.

     For some reason David never figured out, Oliver Queen had come as well. He walked immediately to Felicity and whispered something into her ear. She nodded and darted to Joe, whispering something in his ear, who called over Eddie and Iris. Oliver had already walked out of the building by then. The four of them in a hurry, worry written on their faces (he would later learn that it was because Barry was out of surgery and could now be visited).

     David shrugged and went back to celebrating. Allen was alive, and that’s all that mattered.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Eddie knocked on the plain looking door.

     “Come in,” a weary, but mildly happy voice answered. He opened the door and had to dodge his fiancée as Iris bolted into the room at speeds that would’ve made the Flash jealous.

     “Barry!” Iris squealed. Eddie entered the room just in time to watch as Iris threw herself on a scared-looking Barry. Eddie chuckled. Barry wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug just as enthusiastically. Joe was sitting in a chair beside Barry’s bed. Cisco and Caitlin - apparently really good friends of Barry’s - were seated on the small couch shoved against a wall. The blonde computer woman with glasses - Fidelity, Eddie thought her name was - was there, sitting on a fold-out chair right next to a buff African-American man with a kind face. A third person was standing behind them, leaning against a wall. The person was a blond man with stubble and stern eyes. Eddie knew he seemed familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

     Once Iris detached herself from Barry, Eddie got a good look at him. He looked very pale, almost translucent, but had the tiniest bit of color in his cheeks. Eddie expected his to look worse, considering he had been tortured for five hours. The entirety of both his arms were heavily bandaged, and he was hooked up to so many machines, Eddie could realistically believe that Barry was a lab rat.

     “How’re you doing?” he asked, giving him his own hug. Barry shrugged. “I’m alive. Can’t complain,” the young man chuckled lowly, earning him a sharp glare from half the people in the room. “I’m going to be fine with no serious permanent side effects, but the docs are still not sure if my legs will ever fully heal again.”

     Eddie saw flashes of pain flash across his face when he mentioned that his legs might not ever recover.

     “I’m just so glad to have you back,” Eddie responded.

     “Thanks Eddie,” Barry told him, smiling. “Have you met everyone yet?” 

     Eddie shook his head. “Okay. Well, that’s Cisco and Caitlin. That’s Felicity, computer genius” the blonde girl (his guess had been close), “that’s John Diggle, but everyone calls him Diggle, best darn bodyguard in the world,” buff African-American, “and that’s Oliver, professional brooder,” the blond man.

     Eddie now knew where he recognized him from. That was Oliver Queen, billionaire who had been stranded on an island for five years. Oliver rolled his eyes. “I am not a professional brooder.”

     “You kind of are,” Felicity joked, eyes alight with amusement.

     “So, how did you all meet?” Eddie decided to ask.

     “Yeah. You never mentioned that you were all buddy-buddy with Oliver Queen,” Iris commented lightly, but her eyes glared holes into Barry’s head. Oliver lifted one of his eyebrows, and fixed Barry with a look. “Yeah Bar. Why don’t you explain how all of us met?”

     Barry gave Oliver a weak glare, before taking a deep breath. “Long story short, I snuck out of Central because I had caught wind of a weird case in Starling at Queen Consolidated. I always looked into weird cases in case it had any relation to my mom’s. Anyways, I lied to Oliver and Captain Lance about being a member of the CSI, when I wasn’t a full member yet. I worked with Felicity, who’s an IT worker at QC, on the case. I got to know Dig through her, but Oliver was suspicious of me. He looked me up and figured out I was a fraud. They confronted me, and I told them the truth. Oliver was the one who decided to give me a second shot at the case, and I was able to crack it.”

     “He saved my company, so I repaid him with lunch. It was the least I could do,” Oliver jumped in. “He seemed decent, so I called him up again. We became friends after that.”

     “That’s pretty cool,” Eddie commented, looking between the two of them. The two shared a look that Eddie couldn’t decipher, before Barry looked back at him. “Yeah. I guess it is.”

     The group continued with almost meaningless small talk to pass the time, but Barry began to nod off. Oliver was the first to notice this, and he tapped Felicity’s shoulder before standing up.

     “Are you guys leaving?” Barry slurred. Felicity gave him a tight hug.

     “Yeah. We’re all staying at the same hotel for a couple of days, but we’ll have to head back to Starling soon. Luckily, none of us ever seem to get sick, so we’ve all got plenty of sick days to cover our absence.” Barry hummed noncommittally. Dig gave Barry a shorter hug than Felicity than did, but he ruffled his hair affectionately. Oliver leaned down to whisper something in Barry’s ear, which made him smile, before giving him a hug as well.

     After saying their goodbyes, the three Starling residents left with goodbye waves to all the others in the hospital room.

     “It’s time for us to go too,” Joe said, giving pointed looks to Iris and Caitlin. Both the women nodded and stood, grabbing their male companions by their arms.

     “We’ll come back tomorrow, Barry,” Caitlin told him before giving him a quick hug. Cisco grinned impishly at him and the two exchanged an elaborate handshake that had Eddie wondering how Barry could do it while half-asleep. Joe hugged him goodbye, and Iris almost tackled him, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

     “Get some sleep, Bar. Got it?” she questioned, pulling back. Barry gave her a slight nod, eyes drooping close. Eddie patted Barry’s knee. “Get feeling better soon.”

     The five of them left the room, turning off the lights and closing the door. They exchanged goodbyes among themselves when they left the hospital. Eddie slipped an arm around Iris’ waist and she laid her head on his shoulder. The two walked to their car in companionable silence, both finally able to relax knowing Barry was now safe and sound.

\- - -⚡\- - -

     Oliver smiled at the room full of people. He had decided to hold a big celebratory dinner at his house in Starling honoring the fact that Caitlin, Iris, Felicity, and Oliver himself had cleared Barry to go back onto the field.

     Caitlin checked his vitals and reported the fact they were back to full normalcy. The liquid nitrogen Blood had poured over his legs had damaged the nerves explicitly, but Felicity had taken on the challenge of helping Barry run again. She created a device that, when attached to certain nerves in the brain and legs, helped Barry control his legs.

     The first time Barry had walked after being in a wheelchair for over five months, he cried. To be fair to Barry, not one person who watched him take his first steps in nearly half a year had dry eyes, Oliver included. Braces had to be worn as well in order for him to walk, but she had custom made the braces so they fit underneath jeans and his suit, the metal structure thin but sturdy.

     When Barry walked into the precinct the next day, everyone cheered, two people cried, and someone almost had an asthma attack they were cheering so loudly.

     Still, Felicity had tested and tested the technological implants that were imputed into Barry’s legs and brain, making sure they didn’t have any bugs at all, nor the possibility of harming him even more.

     Oliver had tested his athletic abilities and reflexes, making sure he could still fight and defend himself. That took time, since Barry’s strength had to be built up again after losing so much weight from his ordeal. Joe eventually told Barry to take time off work in order to “bulked up” again, so he did. Barry decided to spend the next month in Starling City with Oliver so he didn’t have to constantly make so many trips for their training sessions. Oliver put him on a rigorous training schedule, and Barry got back into shape after one month.

     Iris was the one who decided when the best moment for the Flash to come back would be, handling the press releases and questions like a pro. She was the main reason not a lot of backlash came back on Barry, setting up a small function where the press could interview Barry as the Flash, asking him whatever questions about his disappearances they might have had. With Iris’ help, Barry had formulated a convincing story to cover his absence.

     The story was that a metahuman had drugged him and attacked him when he was off his guard. The Flash beat the metahuman, but not before they had thrown him off a building, breaking his back, which paralyzed him from the neck down. He told them that he had high regenerative capabilities, but healing a broken back took time. It took even longer for his paralysis to wear off, and then he had to get back into shape.

     The press ate it up, forgiving Barry for whatever wrongdoings they accused him of. Barry donned the famous cowl and sped through the streets yesterday for the first time since his kidnapping, which was why Oliver was holding this dinner.

     Everyone had come to celebrate with the hero. Joe, Iris and Eddie (who had gotten married one month prior), Caitlin, Cisco, Felicity, Dig, and Lyla. Even Dr. Wells had been invited, but declined the invitation for some odd reason. Oliver shook these thoughts out of his mind. He gazed at his friends - his _family_ really - affectionately. They were all talking and laughing, trading funny stories and instances.

     “Hey,” a soft voice sounded from beside him. Oliver turned to look at Barry, who was watching the scene before them with a warm gaze.

     “Hey,” Oliver responded.

     “It’s good to see them like this. These past months have been hard on all of us,” Barry mused, taking a small sip from the wine glass in his hand. Oliver nodded. “Especially you.”

     Barry shrugged. “Yeah, yeah.”

     “No, Barry, really. You went through so much that night, and…I can’t help but think that if I hadn’t been there in time, you would’ve been done for,” Oliver hissed intensely.

     Barry’s smile dropped, but was put up immediately again. “Don’t. Don’t think about that, Oliver. You threw this thing tonight so all of us could get our minds off what could’ve happened. So, let’s go converse with everybody like normal human beings instead of stereotypical antisocial heroes.” Oliver laughed at that and allowed himself to be led into the living room and sit down next to Barry.

     Currently, they were antagonizing Cisco about an incident with a katana (Oliver honestly didn’t want to know how the sword got lodged into the ceiling of a elementary school). He leaned back against the couch, smiling into his glass of wine.

     He had caught lightning in a bottle with this group, and he wasn’t planning on letting it go anytime soon.

**Author's Note:**

> IT'S OVER. 
> 
> Okay, so here's my dilemma. I started writing this in History last year (when I was supposed to be paying attention) and wrote it all out on paper first, then transferred it to the computer to edit and fix. It took a lot of work, and the paper version is a lot worse. I have extreme respect for those who wrote full length books solely on paper. I'm posting this when I should be sleeping, so please excuse any spelling/grammar errors.
> 
> Now, it's over though. I had a lot of fun writing this. Be happy though, because the original ending was gonna be Barry's funeral (I'll let you process that). When I got to writing the part where Blood was going to kill Barry, I couldn't do it thought (which is weird because I've mercilessly killed off many other loved characters before). I guess I had just spent so much time with this story that I couldn't kill Barry off. Lucky for you guys. 
> 
> Anyways, thank you so much for reading this. Please check out some of my other works if you're interested. I have an ongoing series called "And I Quote..." and the next installment is going to be of Barry, so stay tuned if you want to see that. Please leave comments if you loved it or hated it. I love reading all types of comments. They either make my day or show me ways to improve.
> 
> BookLover86, Out! ;)


End file.
